Collectables

[pabenny]

Postal authorities in many countries started producing stamps for collectors in the mid-1960s and the vast majority of stamps produced since then have little value except as postage.

Likewise, I suspect "collectible" editions of Barbie dolls, Lego, etc, will not repay the investment. Those that are actually sought after are untouched examples of items that no-one anticipated would become collectible - eg pristine, boxed Game Boys or possibly early iPods. Perhaps now is the time to go hunting for an unused Blackberry.

[Richard Frost]

Perhaps now is the time to go hunting for an unused Blackberry.

Why just a single blackberry? Later this year I will have hundreds of unused ones in my hedge. Anyone will be welcome to pick as many as they want as they walk by.

[Chadwick]

Perhaps now is the time to go hunting for an unused Blackberry.

Why just a single blackberry? Later this year I will have hundreds of unused ones in my hedge. Anyone will be welcome to pick as many as they want as they walk by.

The canny collector might consider freezing them, so that when fresh ones can no longer be obtained, they can offer an alternative supply of mint condition products, thereby increasing their value due to scarcity.

[Richard Frost]

I do freeze them, also crumbles, pies and sorbets. There are plentiful supplies in the local area however, so even freezing leaves a surplus. Apple turns into a lovely crumble later in the year as well. Three of them create lots.

[planteria]

good stuff re the blackberries.. i bet they're good in a crumble.

a mint condition Blackberry would be an interesting little item to stash away. a friend of mine is into retro technology, so old cassette players, watches, phones etc. somewhere we have an LED Commodore calculator, i'd love to find that.

ref the Seikos, yes, it depends upon the model, as macliam says MrsXfile. you're right to hold onto it, of course. the desirability and rarity of a model are important. Seiko is unusual in that it is a brand that sells watches, admittedly in some cases via sub-brands, from c£75 to £250,000. there are many other brands where the values, both new and old, are far more consistent. you can't get a new/vgc Rolex for less than a few thousand. i actually have 4 Seiko models at the moment but am letting one go soon. the ones i have are worth hundreds rather than thousands, and it's good to be able to put on a watch without worry of it attracting attention, risk of loss etc in some situations.

[Sarah]

If anyone has 1980s microcomputers sitting around in storage, the values of those have taken off in recent years, especially uncommon models and those in good working order*. Obviously they're not worth a king's ransom (yet) but the days of casual owners letting them go for pocket money to clear space are pretty much over; the best examples are now changing hands for 5X or more than they were a couple of decades ago.

*Warning: Switching on a computer that hasn't been used for a long time carries a risk that it will be significantly damaged if the power supply components have become faulty (which is not at all unusual after storage in environments like lofts, garages, sheds, etc). Therefore collectors always test such components separately first.

[planteria]

i have an Acorn Electron if you're interested Sarah.. i only accept payments in satoshis though

[pihilp]

I hardly buy anything vaguely 'collectible' off ebay these days - gone are the times (1999-2010) when I bought loads of stuff at absolute bargain prices, many from mis-spelt listings.
Today's sophisticated search, too many 'watchers' and the sheer number of buyers has reduced almost to zero the occurrence of 'sleepers'

[planteria]

that sounds about right pihilp.. i have one watch that i bought on ebay, from Japan, but i bought three and returned two of them.

[blythburgh]

I can remember last century at a LibDem branch social I remarked I wanted one day to buy a Margaret Glass painting. It would have cost me a month's income at the time or something like that. My statement was greeted by shock that I would want to own something so expensive.

Margaret Glass' prices have gone up far faster than income let alone spare cash. So it has been a case of looking at her pictures in galleries but knowing they were unaffordable.

But one came up for sale on ebay at a real bargain price so we bought it. It was a buy not an auction which helped. The painting is now up on our wall. Is it genuine? Well it has the original gallery sticker on the back and the quality of the work and style is hers. And there is a sticker with her name and address on the back. We finally have a long longed for painting on our wall thanks to an ebay seller